FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network structure of an existing third generation partnership project (Third Generation Partnership Project, abbreviated to 3GPP) communication system. A radio access network, for example, a universal mobile telecommunications system (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, abbreviated to UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network, abbreviated to UTRAN) or a GSM/EDGE radio access network (GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network, abbreviated to GERAN), is used to implement radio-related functions; and a core network (Core Network, abbreviated to CN) is used to implement functions of switching and routing with an external network. The UTRAN includes a base station (Node B) and a radio network controller (Radio Network Controller, abbreviated to RNC). The GERAN includes a base transceiver station (Base Transceiver Station, abbreviated to BTS) and a base station controller (Base Station). The CN includes a packet switched (Packet Switched, abbreviated to PS) domain, which is capable of supporting voice and data services. The PS domain includes a serving general packet radio service supporting node (Serving GPRS Supporting Node, abbreviated to SGSN), a gateway general packet radio service supporting node (Gateway GPRS Supporting Node, abbreviated to GGSN), and so on. The GGSN is mainly responsible for interfacing with an external network and implementing transmission of user plane data. A core function of the SGSN is to implement route forwarding, mobility management, session management, user information storage, and so on. In addition, the CN further includes a home location register (Home Location Register, abbreviated to HLR), which is used to store user subscription information.
Long term evolution (Long Term Evolution, abbreviated to LTE) and system architecture evolution (System Architecture Evolution, abbreviated to SAE) are next generation mobile networks developed by the 3GPP. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of existing LTE and SAE networks. As shown in FIG. 2, the LTE is formed by an E-UTRAN (evolved-UTRAN). The E-UTRAN includes an evolved base station (eNodeB, abbreviated to eNB) network element, which is used to implement radio-related functions. The SAE is formed by a mobility management entity (Mobility Management Entity, abbreviated to MME), a serving gateway (Serving Gateway, abbreviated to SGW), a packet data network gateway (Packet Data Network Gateway, abbreviated as PGW), and a home subscriber server (Home Subscriber Server, abbreviated to HSS). The MME is a control network element in a PS domain, and is used to implement mobility-related functions such as authentication, mobility management, and session management. The SGW and the PGW are gateways and have different functions due to different locations in a network. Basic functions of the SGW and the PGW are to perform session management, data forwarding, and charging information collection. In addition, the SGW is connected to the eNB, and is capable of converging eNB connections; and the PGW is connected to an external network such as a PDN. Generally, the NodeB/RNC, the BTS/BSC and the eNB are collectively referred to as radio access network elements.
In a 3GPP network, a method for a gateway device to acquire radio location information of a UE is: A message sent by the gateway device to a mobility management network element indicates reporting location information of the UE, the mobility management network element sends a location report control message to a radio access network element, and the radio access network element may report a current location of a terminal user, and, for example, may also perform reporting for many times whenever the location of the terminal user changes.
It can be known from the foregoing, in a method for a radio access network element to report location information by using signaling in the prior art, reported content is single and a condition cannot be configured flexibly. It is particularly important that, in an existing network, if a location that needs to be reported, for example, a cell, has a small range, location information is frequently reported when a location of a UE slightly changes, which not only produces a heavy load on a network element that the signaling passes through and occupies excessive network resources, but also affects normal service processing, for example, fails to process a new network access request.